1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for cleaning hearing aid devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A hearing aid patient relies on a hearing aid device, and thus its components, to reliably function. Hearing aid devices comprise numerous sensitive electronic components. These components may include a receiver, microphone, volume control, potentiometers, contacts, and circuitry.
Hearing aid devices are subject to a moist environment. Moisture alone may negatively impact device performance and longevity. Moisture also aggravates the buildup up ear wax, dirt, and grime, which may also deteriorate performance and longevity.
Untreated moisture may, for example, cause corrosion on contacts, potentiometers, circuitry, and wires, condensation on screens or diaphragms in the microphone/receiver, and/or loss of sensitivity of or change in the frequency response of the microphone/receiver. Further, untreated moisture and buildup may lead to infections.
Reducing moisture content and/or facilitating the removal of buildup assists in the reliable functionality, maintainability, cleanliness, and longevity of hearing aid devices.
Hearing aid devices may be cleaned manually and/or automatically. Prior art automatic cleaning devices disclose open systems, unnecessarily complex closed systems having unnecessarily large volumes of gas requiring moisture extraction, and/or bulky designs, resulting in unnecessarily expensive products, electricity consumption, inefficient operation, and/or a lack of portability.
Various hearing aids and methods for their cleaning and drying have been disclosed to the public. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,016 (issued Jul. 21, 1992) offers a hearing aid having a replaceable container of desiccant material replaceably mounted therein. The desiccant is preferably associated with the battery to allow simultaneous replacement of each.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,783 (issued Jun. 24, 1997) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,879 (continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,783; issued Dec. 29, 1998) suggest the use of a chamber for recirculating gas past a heater and a moisture sensitive item. The chamber is substantially sealed, and contains a desiccant mounted within the chamber. The circulation of gas within the chamber is caused by a fan.
DE 200 07 224 U1 (Apr. 20, 2000) describes a dryer having an inlet for airflow that passes over an electrical heating element before passing to an outlet in the base of the component container. The containers can hold small electronic components such as hearing aids.
JP 2001-258099 A (Sep. 21, 2001) suggests a hearing aid case comprising a charcoal sheet on one of its inner side surfaces. The sheet is accommodated on a storage board that can be inserted or detached along a groove provided in the case.
There remains a need for a cost effective, efficient, and portable automatic hearing aid cleaning apparatus. The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.